Remnant-Dotproph

REMNANT The prophetic writings of the eighth through fourth centuries BC portray descriptions of historical events in which the future existence of a distinct ethnic and geopolitical people named *“Israel” was often in question (e.g., aggression and destruction of Samaria and the northern kingdom in 734 BC and 722 BC, the threat against Jerusalem in 701 BC, and subsequent incursions against and deportations of Judeans in 605, 597, 586 and 581 BC) (see Israelite History). As the threat of either slavery or pogrom from other surrounding nations such as the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian and Persian Empires was continually in the purview of the northern and southern kingdoms, the prophetic figures associated with Israel and Judah interpreted the concept of “remnant” both in negative and positive manners. There are five Hebrew lexemes that provide a semantic range associated with a “remnant theology” (ʾḥr [NIDOTTE 1:360–62; TDOT 1:207–12]; ytr [NIDOTTE 2:571–74; TDOT 6:482–91]; plṭ [NIDOTTE 3:621–26; TDOT 11:551–66]; śrd [NIDOTTE 3:1271–72; TDOT 14:215–18]; šʾr [NIDOTTE 4:11–17; TDOT 14:272–86]); the corresponding Greek lexemes in the LXX are leimma, hypoleimma, loipos and kataloipos. Beyond the lexical material, the idea of a remnant people can also be adduced through conceptual developments. The conceptualization of a people who are “left behind” has multiple connotative values that may range from positive or negative to suprahistorical or eschatological. The concept of remnant is directly associated with the various historical events that caused those in Israel and Judah to reinterpret who they were as a people of Yahweh. Depending on the approach taken, theological or strictly historical, the answer to the question of how the understanding of “remnant” originated and developed will differ accordingly. Concerning the former, the first explicit occurrence of the remnant motif is found in Genesis 7:23: “He [God] wiped out everything that was on the face of the ground, from humanity and animals to creeping things and birds of the sky. They were wiped away from the earth. Only Noah was left [wayiššāʾer], and those with him in the ark” (see Elliott, 723). Since this is the first appearance of the remnant motif in the canon of the HB set in the context of the primeval flood story, it is curious that the first literary occurrence of this topos in the ancient Near East is found in another Sumerian flood story from the third millennium (ANET 42– 44). Although the observation that this idea occurs early in the “biblical history” of Israel demonstrates its importance to the metanarrative of a more comprehensive biblical theology of “remnant groups” (Rendtorff, 265–79), our concern will be with the prophetic literature and how this literary corpus takes up the remnant topos as a response to the various historical events that shaped the history and self- identity of Israel/Judah. 1. The Historical Question of Origins 2. Remnant in the Prophetic Literature of the Neo-Assyrian Era 3. Remnant in the Prophetic Literature of the Neo-Babylonian Era 4. Remnant in the Prophetic Literature of the Persian Era Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press, 2012). Page 1. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:59 AM June 9, 2015. 5. Remnant in the Literature of the Greek and Roman Eras 6. Conclusion 1. The Historical Question of Origins The variety of adaptations of the remnant theme in ancient Near Eastern literature (see Hasel 1980, 50– 134) suggests that the concept derived from the practical concern that a people might survive a natural threat such as disease or drought or a social threat such as war or civil strife (Hasel, ISBE 5:130). Further, this topos is present in Egyptian mythological texts (e.g., “Book of the Cow of Heaven” [ANET 10–11; COS 1.24:36–37]) and Mesopotamian king lists (e.g., Sumerian King List [ANET 265–69]). The Akkadian creation story Enuma Elish (ANET 60–72, 501–3; COS 1.111:390–402) features a remnant people as well as the Syria-Palestine creation story Baal and Anath Cycle (ANET 129–42; COS 1.86:241–74). The remnant motif is also found in the Hittite “Plague Prayers” of King MurŠili II (ANET 394–96; COS 1.60:156–60). These primary texts are just a sampling, and the remnant motif spans West Semitic and Mesopotamian literature genres, including hymns, myths, epics, prayers and annals. Although the Neo- Assyrian Empire employed the motif as a propagandistic military tactic to terrify conquered peoples (see Müller and Preuss; Carena), this use is a later specification of the concept as seen in the eighth-century BC prophets (Amos, Isaiah, Micah) after it was already well ingrained in the conceptual and literary milieu of the ancient Near East. The widespread dissemination across all types of Gattung suggests that the concept arose from the quite mundane desire for humanity’s survival and existence when life was jeopardized by natural threats. G. Hasel suggests that the remnant concept can be either “historical” or “eschatological,” but this may be slightly reductionistic, and, strictly speaking, the pervasive concern of the writing prophets was not so much for the eschaton as for the return from Babylonian exile. Instead, we can observe in the literature, whether in the OT or greater ancient Near Eastern context, that the survival of a remnant people was viewed both as looking back to physical harm or national disaster and looking forward to a future hope of national existence and identity. Therefore, the notion of remnant evinced a dimension of discontinuity whereby a people were kept for or from judgment and a dimension of continuity whereby a people were kept for *salvation. 2. Remnant in the Prophetic Literature of the Neo-Assyrian Era From the first and earliest instances where the remnant motif is employed in the prophetic literature, the purpose is clear: Yahweh has spared a people from judgment and destruction. The idea refers to a people who have survived either foreign or domestic threats, whether war, famine or pestilence. Amos and Isaiah support this purpose. 2.1. Amos. As with the motif of the Day of Yahweh in Amos 5:18–20, the Judean prophet to northern Israel has anything but positive pronouncements to the people. The concept of a remnant theology is pervasive in the book of Amos, but to Amos’s audience this notion only signifies a people who escape destruction from the aggressive Assyrian armies, where an initial deportation occurred in Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press, 2012). Page 2. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:59 AM June 9, 2015. 734 BC and was then fully realized in 722/21 BC. The first mention of the remnant motif occurs in the oracles against the nations (Amos 1:2–2:16). As the prophet proclaims Yahweh’s judgment over the surrounding enemies of Israel and Judah, even the “remnant” (šĕʾērît) of the Philistines will be destroyed (Amos 1:8). The same is said for Israel, where Yahweh will allow only a few people to remain for a time (Amos 3:12; 5:3) before he eventually sends the sword and serpent to kill any who have escaped the first round of judgment (Amos 9:1–4). Yahweh will make sure that there is no “escapee” (plṭ) from the northern kingdom to make up a surviving remnant. This use of the remnant motif corresponds with the Neo-Assyrian war annals, where a conquered and displaced people were left alive so that they might be a sign of judgment for other nations. As Yahweh “shakes” Israel and the other nations, not one “pebble” will fall to the ground (Amos 9:9–10). Thus, the final form of Amos marks out Joseph/Ephraim (i.e., northern Israel) for death, but a remnant from the house of Jacob (i.e., southern Judah) will continue in covenant relationship. The prophet’s use of the remnant topos is diverse and innovative. He negates the preconceptions of those in Bethel (cf. Amos 7:10–17), and he sets forth a hope for a remnant people of Yahweh as exclusive to those who align themselves with the reconstitution of the “booth of David” (sukkat dāwîd) in Jerusalem (Amos 9:11–15). The diverse appropriations in the book of Amos provide a conceptual richness that both antedates and influences subsequent prophetic traditions (see Hasel 1980, 173–215). 2.2. Isaiah. The characteristics of the remnant motif in Isaiah 1–39 differ from those in Isaiah 40–66, largely due to issues regarding composition, audience and historical concerns. From the outset of the book, Daughter *Zion has already suffered from war and brutality (Is 1:7–8), and the surviving community recognizes that it is only due to Yahweh’s mercy that anyone from Judah is still alive (Is 1:9). Although only a few remain (hôtîr lānû śārîd), this motif of the “left over” people contributes to the literary plotline of the book of Isaiah. The “remnant” people of Yahweh are set against the historical backdrop of Assyrian hegemony and recurring aggression, principally under the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah. The initial image regarding the remnant motif is that of a tenth of a people who survive divine judgment, and they serve as the “holy seed” (zeraʿ qōdeš) who will repopulate the land (Is 6:13). In Isaiah 7 the prophet’s son, Shearjashub (šĕʾār yāšûb), is a sign both to Ahaz and to Isaiah himself that King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel will turn back to their own countries as “fire stumps” that are all but extinguished.

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